New app guarantees lower payments on traffic tickets

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A new app recently introduced in some areas of metro Atlanta is said to guarantee that the user will pay less on a traffic ticket. According Chris Riley, founder and CEO of TIKD, the app guarantees that drivers who use the service will “always”pay less than the fine amount.

“Most drivers don’t realize that when they challenge a traffic ticket, their fine is likely to be reduced and their points are typically removed,” Riley said in a press release. “People think it’s faster and cheaper to simply pay the fine so they can avoid hiring an attorney or taking a day off of work to appear in court. We’re transforming how consumers can take action on their traffic tickets by offering a more cost effective, convenient solution that they can use straight from their mobile phones.”

According to the press release, TIKD uses “economies of scale and the law of large numbers to lower the cost of challenging a ticket,” effectively acting as a clearinghouse to take care of the traffic ticket, “hiring an attorney if necessary and managing the ticket paying process.”

“TIKD takes care of both the fine and the court costs so no matter what the outcome, the customer never has to pay more than the one-time payment which is always less than the actual fine,” Riley said. “A traffic ticket can cost drivers far more than the fine itself because assigned points can increase auto insurance premiums by thousands of dollars. TIKD takes a negative thing and makes it much less costly and dramatically more efficient.”

This is how it is said to work.

• Go to tikd.com and hit ‘Submit My Ticket’

• Upload a picture of the ticket

• Enter the ticket details, including ticket type and date of issue

• Pay with a credit card in a single or multiple transactions

• Receive regular updates about the ticket until the case is decided, usually about six-to eight weeks after the ticket is submitted.

The company also helps consumers who can’t pay the full ticket amount at once with a payment plan “of sorts.” They can pay 50 percent by credit card up front, and the balance in two additional payments – for a small charge.

“We only accept minor traffic tickets, like those issued for basic moving violations and parking tickets,” Riley said. “We are here to help the person who couldn’t find a nearby parking spot and blocked an intersection to quickly drop something off as well as the individual who hit the snooze button too many times, was running late for an important meeting and cruised through a stop sign. We all make these types of mistakes and now TIKD makes paying for them cheaper, faster and much more convenient.”

Although it is not available in all areas of metro Atlanta, it is supposed to be available in Gwinnett County. When contacted, officials with the Gwinnett County Recorders Clerk said they were aware of it, but did not yet know of anyone who had used it, but would look into it. It is not yet available in Walton County. Loganville Magistrate Court Judge Lori Duff, who adjudicates traffic cases from both Walton and Gwinnett counties, said she too doesn’t believe she has yet seen any instances of it being used. She is reserving judgement on whether it would be a benefit to the system, or not.

“If it has been used here, I don’t know about it. I’m not sure I would, since it’s basically just a way to hire a lawyer at a ‘bulk’ discount. As to whether it helps or hurts, I don’t know. On the one hand, people who have lawyers, as a general rule, understand better what is going on and are better advised about their options. On the other, I don’t know how much time these lawyers will have to pay individual attention to the defendants and their unique cases. It all depends on how it plays out. I don’t know how it works as a practical matter,” Duff said. “I hope there are lawyers involved, otherwise it might be the unauthorized practice of law. As far as the ultimate outcomes, I do my best in any situation to ensure that what happens in each case is fair and just, and I expect everyone who comes in my courtroom to have that goal as well. Anything that helps that goal is good in my book.”

TIKD reports it has helped 3,000 people since it launched in Florida in February and it is now available in the Baltimore/DC metro area as well as Atlanta. The company expects to expand to the country’s top 30 metro areas by the summer of 2018. In Georgia, it is currently only available in Atlanta metro and Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas and Gwinnett counties.